Councilmember Johnson's possible departure.

[Linda Pall <lpall@moscow.com>]

Dear Visionaries,

Responding to Ken MEdlin's request  for my input on possible council member
appointments. I will be out of town all next week and am preparing for the
departure so this may not be the best writing I've done on this topic.

It is the Mayor's prerogative to appoint and the Council's to confirm. I
know that Marshall would like to appoint someone who would reflect the
departing COuncil member's philosophy and views if possible and who can work
well within a Council framework. Whether he or she runs with scissors is not
important. Appointing one of the people who ran for the COuncil is always
possible. 

I was the beneficiary of that in 1977 when DOn Mackin ran for Mayor.
However, you need to know the context. Don did not resign his council seat
to run for Mayor and specifically made the campaign promise to appoint the
fourth highest vote-getter (when Linda Pall was just "Linda Pall, community
activist" and one of about 9-11 who turned out that year), thereby informing
all of the electorate of his intentions and the impact of their votes. When
I came in as a close fourth, Don received a lot of pushing and pulling about
that appointment because some feared that "that woman" would be a shock to
the makeup of the council which at that time was pretty conservative. I
believe I surprised many upon my appointment because, after a first motion
to deepsix the couplet project in favor of a bypass (which went down in
flames), I participated in mostly 6-0 votes during my first two years on the
Council. Most of the differences of opinion were worked out in council
committee meetings and debate on the council. We learned, up close and
personal, that most of the city issues do not break out on bi-polar
dimensions. Rather, they are good government kinds of issues, often mostly
technical ones, where we can eventually agree on a strategy once we have
fully discussed the options. In that way, city governance really is
governance of a municipal corporation, where most decisions have to do with
the good of the corporation and are not often powered by ideology. 

For a very diverse group of people, we were a surprisingly close-knit and
collegial group as well.

I would like to see Tony serve out his term but frankly, I believe the
wonderful opportunity to build the house of his and Debbi's dreams has to be
considered. There are things other than public service that are also
important to us and family is certainly at the top of my list. I know it is
on Tony's. I have truly enjoyed getting to know Tony, sparring with him,
laughing with him, calling him friend and having the pleasure of his
membership on my Congressional campaign effort. I respect his values and
find him a committed Council member, business man, husband, and father.
We've been lucky to have him on the Council and he will be missed if and
when he resigns.

Bottom line: Mayor Marshall, do your best. Aaron Ament is a fine person,
mounted a good campaign and is a thinker who would make a positive
contribution to the COuncil. There are others who would do so as well, some
who have run for the COuncil, some who have not. Please give us your best
choice and your reasoning and the COuncil will give your nomination the
highest consideration. You're a good mayor and it shows.

All the best to all the Visionaries,
Linda Pall
Moscow City COuncil